Hello everybody im new to the forum and i was looking for some info on a hybrid duck boat. Id like to build 2 of them. One for me and 1 for my son. Hopefully someone can help me out with the size and type of boat to build. Is there anyway to get some detailed instructions or plans to follow somewhere on the internet? ThanksWrigs

Thanks for the reply. I couldnt find any plans on the link you sent just a couple pics and you tube vids. I did find one set of plans from a google search but there was no way to make a templat for the transom. Any ideas youd me much aprreciated.ThanksWrigs

Contact MissedAgain (on forum) and he will recommend which style hull. He offers free plans and plans you buy for a small fee for the other style boats, As he told me, the plans are more like detailed instructions and it's that way to make it more flexible on your preferred setup. No full scale templates. If you have any experience with building things it will make perfect sense, if not you'll learn along the way.

The website has 5 sets of plans - the original plans are free, scroll down on the original page. SN & Prototype & NL & DE versions have pay pal buttons.

You can see a bunch of photos of different boats under the three tabs for photos.

It all depends on what you want to do with the boats and what the waters look like. The NL is the most stable and the DE can be built to hide the best and the Prototype is the lightest and easiest to lug around.

I lean towards the NL. People have built then from 6.5 ft to 12 feet long. The plans include a video where we build a 10 ft version. It builds the same as the 8 ft except you have to make your plywood longer.

They really are the lightest and easiest to build of the wooden layout boats. Figure a couple weekends and you are done - I do them in less than 20 hours and a guy just posted on another forum that he did his in 24 hours of actual building time. A lot of the other boats are 60-100 hours of time. I'm busy and just plain don't have time to do that.

IF you have questions for me, PM me on here or email the contact on the website. I am always doing something, will get back as soon as possible.

killwoodies101 wrote:your a dudshe bag! You dont own the river your dont own any property around it.. Its just as mush mine and any other tom **** and harry's as it is yours !! get a life share what is yours or stop hunting

The stability of the NL is unbelievable - worth considering depending on how old your son is. The plans with the video from Rich (MA) are worth every penny, especially if you have never done any fiber glassing before.

I built my NL 3 years ago and have been very Happy with knowing its only drawback - paddlings a bear. Knowing that I limited the travel by boat to a distance I could paddle any farther I used a trolling motor. This year I will be using a 5hp Gamefisher, for as long as it will hold up.Being your 6'3" I would suggest building the 10' version of the NL. You will need that extra length and go a little wider on the cockpit.Build a 1/4 scale model with cardboard, poster board etc. It will not only help you with your full size but you will see things during the model build that you will want to incorporate in the full size. Its also pretty cool to have as a momento.

Thanks for all the replies. My plan so far is to build the original for my son first and see how it turns out and make my deaxision from there. That should give me a really good idea if i need the 10ft or not. Plan on building a scaled down model this weekend to prepare for the real thing. Thanks again to all those who replied!Wrigs

A couple of tips for your build. If you are looking to save money try to buy some of your materials in bulk. Epoxy is very expensive to ship so you'll want to order it all at once for both boats. US composites has good epoxy but it is expensive, fasco epoxy (103LVX) is good and cheaper (they shorted me on some hardener so I won't order from them again), MaxBond is the cheapest I could find but too viscous for a good wet out unless thinned with 5-10% acetone (it works fine once it is thinned). If you want to save money on cloth you can buy it by the 50 yard roll which works well if you can get a couple friends together to split the cost (drops the cost to around $2.50/yd for the whole roll and will build about 4-5 boats).

My first hybrid NL I built cost me $350 (I sold it and built a longer version to hold me and the dog). For the last two boats I built I was able to get the cost down to around $500 for the pair by buying in bulk and shopping around. Plus I still have 30 yards of cloth on my roll, 1/2 gallon of epoxy, and some fiberglass tape and other supplies in case I have to do repairs or decide to make another boat.

Epoxy isn't that much more money than poly and it's a better product. Poly is $30/gallon and epoxy from fasco is $40/gallon and maxbond is even cheaper. So you are talking about saving less than $30 total on a boat. Epoxy last longer and bonds better to wood. I can't see any reason to not use epoxy.

What makes one epoxy better than the other? Longer lasting before delamination or the bond strength. Pumpgunner, I've seen your boats and have no doubt you know what you are talking about. Beautiful work.

Viscosity, the ease which or ability to easily wet out your glass is the biggest thing to make one epoxy preferred over another. If you have to thin them down you loose the strength of the resin. Not all epoxies are exactly the same for bond strength, but they are all very superior to any other resin being epoxies are a bonding resin. Put another way, a poor epoxy is stronger than a top of the line poly resin.

jscheirer wrote:What makes one epoxy better than the other? Longer lasting before delamination or the bond strength. Pumpgunner, I've seen your boats and have no doubt you know what you are talking about. Beautiful work.